


when the flood water comes, it ain't gonna be clear (it's gonna look like mud)

by PitchonthePitch



Series: AUgust Soulmate AU's [8]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Bullying, Coming Out, Drinking, F/F, F/M, Fat Shaming, Friendship, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Insecurity, Internal Conflict, Lightwood Family, M/M, Maryse Lightwood Redemption, Meet the Family, Soulmate-Identifying Timers, again just mentioned, and it's only implied, just a little bit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-08-13 10:01:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20172391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PitchonthePitch/pseuds/PitchonthePitch
Summary: Timer - You have a clock that counts down until you meet your soulmate.After Alec's timer goes off, his mom calls asking to meet his soulmate.  Small problem: Alec hasn't even come out to his mom yet.  And he's still not ready to.Solution?  Alec gets a girl to pretend to be his soulmate.





	when the flood water comes, it ain't gonna be clear (it's gonna look like mud)

A month after Alec’s timer went off, he got a call from his mom. She wanted him and his soulmate to come over for dinner. “I know you’ve only known them for a month,” she said, “so if I’m moving too fast or being too invasive, just let me know. My feelings will not be hurt if you say you don’t want to come over for dinner--”

“Mom,” Alec stopped her. “You’re not being too invasive.” Actually, she was being remarkably considerate, for Maryse Lightwood. Usually, Alec’s mom had a habit of thinking she knew what was best for everyone. Over the phone now, she sounded so unsure and so unlike the mom Alec knew that he couldn’t help but throw her some sort of life preserver.

“So,” she said, sounding hopeful, “you two will come for dinner?”

Alec hesitated.

“I’m making my famous fettuccine alfredo,” she added. “Your favorite.”

Actually, Alec would’ve preferred Eggo waffles to his mom’s fettuccine alfredo. Cooking was not anyone’s strong suit in the Lightwood household. But the first time she made it, she was so excited to hear how Alec liked it that he didn’t have the heart to tell her it was awful.

Alec must have been quiet for too long, because on the other line, Maryse started speaking again. “You know what, nevermind. I shouldn’t have asked--”

“No,” Alec said, not wanting to hurt her feelings. “Actually, I was going to say that you should come over here for dinner.”

His mom was so happy he invited her over, Alec could almost ignore the knot that was forming in his stomach.

“Fantastic! I’ll see you next week, then.”

“I’ll see you, Mom.”

After he got off the phone with Mom, he immediately called Izzy.

“Oh, no,” Izzy greeted him. “You never call. Something must be horribly wrong.” She knew him so well.

“I may have sort of invited Mom over to have dinner with me and my soulmate.”

“...Why would you--”

“I had to! She sounded so excited to see us. She jedi-mind tricked me into inviting her over!”

“Careful,” Izzy teased, “you’re starting to sound like Simon. Speaking of, did I ever tell you the story of when Mom first met _my_ soulmate? When she found out that Simon was a comic book writer, she asked him what his real job was.”

Alec groaned. “I can only imagine what she would say to Magnus. I can’t let her meet him. But I already told her she could.” He shook his head, though Izzy couldn’t see the gesture. “I can only see one solution for my problem.”

“I like where your head’s at, Alec, but Mom’s too young for us to put her in a home.”

He huffed a mean laugh. “You’re terrible. You know that Mom would probably like you better if you stopped making those jokes, right?”

“I’ll stop making jokes about her age when she stops making jokes about my weight.”

“Fair’s fair, I guess.” Alec didn’t pretend to understand the complicated relationship between his mom and his sister. “Look, here’s my idea: I bring a girl to dinner and tell Mom she’s my soulmate.”

On the other line, Izzy sighed. “Hermano, don’t you think you’d be better off just telling her the truth? I mean, you and Magnus are soulmates. She sort of has to accept him.”

“She doesn’t have to do anything. And… I don’t want her to begrudgingly accept the fact that her son’s gay. I don’t want my sexuality to be like, her cross to bear. _‘Poor Maryse Lightwood, did you hear about her son?' _

“Alec, if you’re waiting for her to change, then you’ll be waiting a long time.”

“I know.” They sat on the phone in silence for a minute, each one ruminating over the person their mom was. “Anyway,” Alec said, in a much lighter voice, “I called because I need to talk through options with someone.”

“Options?”

“For my date.”

“Alec--”

“Lydia’s usually my go-to for this kind of thing, but her timer’s still going so she’d never pass as my soulmate. My second choice was Aline, but she’s on a trip with her girlfriend all weekend.”

“Alec, are you sure about this--”

“And the only other girl I know is you. Which, obviously no.”

“Alec!”

“So, do you know anyone else I could ask?” Alec finished his rambling and took a big gulp of air. He hadn’t breathed in all the time that he was talking just now.

Izzy sighed. “Look, I’m not going to tell you what to do. If you think that staging a fake dinner with Mom is a good idea, then I won’t stop you. I’m actually a little jealous I didn’t think of the idea first.”

Alec hummed, sympathetic. Izzy’s first dinner with Simon and Maryse had truly been a nightmare. When Izzy and Simon recounted the dinner to him a few weeks later, Simon still looked scared out of his wits. Maryse could be, well, a lot.

Izzy piped up on the other line. “I have an idea of who you could ask.” Oh, no. Izzy had a note of humor in her voice that Alec didn’t like.

Oh, no! He knew who she was thinking of. He knew exactly who she was thinking of. “No.”

“I haven’t even said a name yet.”

“I know what you’re going to say. I am not asking the most annoying person I know to pretend to be my soulmate.”

“No, no, we must be thinking of different people. The person I’m thinking of is an absolute delight.”

“To you, maybe. I won’t ask her. Don’t even say the name, Izzy.”

“...I don’t think we’re thinking of the same person.”

“I know we are!”

“I’m just going to say who it is.”

“Don’t, Izzy. Don’t you dare suggest--”

“You should ask Clary to pretend to be your soulmate!”

Alec huffed. “You said it. I can’t believe--”

He was cut off by the sound of shuffling on the other line. Sounded like Izzy dropped her phone, or something.

“Iz?” he tried.

Abruptly, a new voice screamed into the phone on the other line. “ALEC! I’M IN! I WILL TOTALLY PRETEND TO BE YOUR SOULMATE!”

Ugh. Clary freakin’ Fray.

“Great,” he said stiffly. “Thanks, Fray.” He tried to talk in between Clary’s rambling. She was saying something about the importance of mlm and wlw solidarity. “Okay,” he said, “I’ll be happy to return the favor sometime, if Luke and Jocelyn ever stop being rad-libs.” He muttered a goodbye and hung up as quickly as possible.

Later, Izzy sent him a text saying, ‘You’re welcome!’

Alec sent her back a bunch of middle finger emojis.

A week later, he found himself letting Clary into his apartment. She had a bottle in hand.

He frowned. “You brought wine?”

She frowned back. “Yeah, what’s wrong with wine?”

“Nothing.” He led her into the kitchen and pulled his own bottle out from the fridge. “But I’ve got us covered already.” It was the same brand of wine Clary had gotten.

“Oh,” she said. After a minute, they both laughed a little. “Well, we’ll keep mine for after.”

Alec opened his mouth to make some excuse as to why he couldn’t hang out with her after dinner.

She wouldn’t give him the chance. “Don’t even try to tell me you won’t feel like drinking after seeing your mom. Simon and Izzy have told me all about her.”

“Fair enough,” he said.

When Maryse arrived, she greeted Alec by pulling him into a hug. Alec went stiff in her arms; he couldn’t remember the last time his mom hugged him. “Hi, Alec! I’m so glad you invited me.”

Alec pulled back. “Thanks for coming.”

“I’m so happy to meet -- who is this?” Maryse’s smile fell when she saw Clary.

“Mom, this is Clary Fray. My soulmate.”

Clary held out a hand to Maryse. “So nice to meet you, Mrs. Lighwood.”

Maryse’s brow was furrowed. “Pleasure. I brought wine!” She held up the bottle instead of shaking Clary’s hand.

“Oh, we’ve got the wine covered,” Alec said. Clary held up her own bottle.

“Oh,” Maryse said. “Good.”

They poured the drinks first. For a moment, they all sat in silence around the table, sipping their drinks and staring at each other.

“Where’s Dad and Max?” Alec said. “I thought they would be coming.”

“Oh no, I should’ve mentioned -- your father and Max are on a camping trip.”

“Oh, okay. Well, more food for us. How’s dad doing?”

“He’s great,” Maryse said.

Silence.

Finally, Maryse looked at Clary for the first time since she came into the house. “I like your shirt, dear.”

“Thanks.” Clary grinned, looking down at her plaid shirt. “Pretty much everything I own is plaid; you know, because I’m g--” She stopped talking abruptly.

Alec stared at her with wide eyes.

Maryse frowned. “Because you’re what?”

“Good with fashion selection,” Alec blurted. Clary nodded wordlessly.

Dinner was not going well. Alec brought out dip to eat while the chicken finished cooking. Clary almost made about a dozen more gay jokes. When Maryse started talking about the _closet_ she was reorganizing, Clary looked like she was about to explode if she didn’t make a joke. Alec made an excuse about checking on dinner and pulled Clary into the kitchen.

“Fray,” he groaned.

“I know! I’m sorry.”

“You have got to step up your game. I know you know how to act straight. You were in the closet until you were thirteen!”

“I know, but I’ve been out for so long now! Almost all of my repretoire is gay humor. You could make a drinking game based on how many gay jokes I make in casual conversation, and you’d be sloshed within the hour!”

“I know,” Alec said, “and there aren’t any ‘straight jokes’ because straight people aren’t funny. I understand. But you need to get your shit together if we’re gonna get through this dinner. Game face, Fray.”

“Okay,” she nodded. “I promised I would help you, and I will. I’ll do better, Alec.”

“Thank you.”

They headed back into the dining room. Clary kept her word; she did better. The next twenty minutes went by without her making a single gay joke.

Then, disaster struck. There was a knock on the door.

Alec answered it, ready to tell whoever that he wasn’t interested in buying any magazines or candy bars.

Instead of a salesperson, he was greeted by Maia Roberts. “Sup, Lightwood,” she said, letting herself in. “Izzy told me Clary was here helping you with something.” She grinned when she saw her girlfriend. “Babe, you left your jacket at my place -- the waterproof one. We’re supposed to get rain later today -- Oh.” She stopped when she saw Maryse. “Sorry, am I interrupting something?”

“Alec,” Maryse said, “who is this?”

“Uh, this is Maia, Clary’s friend.”

Maia raised a brow at Alec. “You did not just ‘gal-pal’ us, Lightwood.”

Maryse raised a brow at Maia. “I’m sorry, what does ‘gal-pal’ mean when used as a verb?”

“It means we have to check on dinner again,” Alec said. “Maia, come with me and Clary into the kitchen, please.”

When they told Maia what was going on, she crossed her arms and looked at her girlfriend with an accusatory stare. “Why wouldn’t you tell me you’re pretending to be Lightwood’s soulmate? Yesterday I asked you what was new, and you told me an hour-long story about your cactus dying.”

“HEY! I LOVED THAT CACTUS LIKE IT WAS MY BLOOD!”

Alec shushed her, reminding her how small his apartment was and how thin the walls were.

“I’m sorry,” Clary said. “I would’ve told you, but I knew that if you heard Alec needed a fake-soulmate, you’d volunteer, like the wonderful person you are.”

“Maia,” Alec gasped, just now realizing the obvious. “I could’ve asked Maia! I’m so stupid; how did I forget about Maia?”

Clary ignored him. “And I wanted to be the one to help Alec,” she said. “I thought if I could help him with his mom, then maybe he’d want to be friends with me.”

Alec stared at her. “You… want to be friends with me?”

“Of course,” Clary said. “All the people we hang out with are friends with each other. Do you know how awkward I feel, being the person you avoid at parties and group hangouts?”

Oh. “I’m sorry,” Alec said. “I didn’t mean to make you feel awkward.” He didn’t think Clary was capable of feeling awkward. “I just--”

“You get annoyed with me, I know.”

“I get jealous,” he said. “You have these supportive parents, and you’ve been out to everyone you know since you were thirteen. You just seem so secure with who you are, and I’m… not. I don’t always know how to _be_ around you,” he admitted.

Clary was staring at him with wide eyes. “You get jealous of me?”

“Don’t make me say it again.”

“You know, I’m not as secure as you think,” Clary said. “I got bullied a lot after I came out. Even now, I’m not out to everyone I know. Like, I just recently reconnected with my birth dad, and I’m so afraid to tell him that I’m gay. I don’t want him to cut out of my life again, you know?”

“I’m so sorry,” Alec said. “I had no idea.”

“We’re both part of the same community, Alec. I mean, why do you think I came here today? I didn’t come to meet the infamous Maryse Lightwood. I came for you.” Cautiously, she put a hand on his shoulder. She knew Alec wasn’t much of a hugger. “I came to support my friend, because I empathize with what you’re going through.”

Alec didn’t know what to say. Finally, he settled for, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Wow. This is a beautiful moment, and I don’t mean to interrupt it -- but I feel I should point out that there’s a woman in Alec’s dining room waiting for you guys to come back to dinner.”

“Right--”

“Yeah, we should get back.”

They headed back into the dining room. “Very nice to meet you, Mrs. Lightwood,” Maia said.

Maryse frowned. “Are you leaving?”

“Yes, unfortunately I need to get going.”

“Oh no, you must stay!” Maryse said. “Alec, you made enough food for five people, didn’t you? Maia, I see your timer’s run out,” Maryse said, motioning to where Maia’s timer resided on her wrist. “Why don’t you invite your soulmate? What’s their name?”

“Um.” Maia looked at Alec and seemed to say the first name that popped into her head. “Magnus Bane?” Her voice lilted up at the end of the name, like she was asking instead of telling.

Maryse smiled at her with all the force of the sun. “Great,” she said, “invite him over.”

Alec let out a defeated sigh.

When Magnus arrived, Maryse greeted him with a firm handshake. He beamed at her. “So nice to meet you, Mrs. Lightwood.”

“Likewise, Magnus.”

Alec pulled Magnus into the kitchen before the conversation could go any further. “The chicken should be done by now,” he said. “I need help bringing it in.”

Magnus waited until the door closed behind them to speak. “Maryse seems lovely. I’m so happy we’re all having dinner together. Do you think she’ll ask me to start calling her ‘Mom?’”

Alec rubbed a hand over his face. “I’m sorry, okay? I should’ve told you about the dinner.”

“So, why didn’t you?” Magnus asked. “I understand lying to your mom. But me? We’re soulmates. If you can’t be honest with me, then who can you be honest with?”

The worst part was that he didn’t even seem mad; he mostly just seemed worried about Alec. They’d only known each other for a month, but Magnus could already see through Alec’s reserved facade. He saw how insecure and deeply lonely Alec was. Sometimes it scared the hell out of Alec, the way Magnus could see right through him.

“I didn’t tell you about the dinner because I knew you’d say it was a bad idea,” Alec said. “And it _was_ a bad idea! You would’ve been right! This dinner has been an unmitigated disaster.”

Magnus rubbed comforting circles into his back. “So? I’ve been to plenty of terrible dinners, Alexander. I can handle one more.” He pressed a finger to Alec’s chin, lifting his head towards him. “I just want us to always be honest with each other.”

Alec closed his eyes, leaning into the touch. “Me too.”

They brought the chicken out together. Alec set a couple more plates on the table for Magnus and Maia.

They were about to settle in for dinner when Maryse spoke up. “Clary, dear, why don’t you sit on the other side of the table? The air conditioner’s against your back right now, and I don’t want you to get cold.” She turned to look at Magnus. “Magnus, you have that nice sweater on. Why don’t you take that seat?”

“Oh. Uh, sure,” Magnus said. He and Clary switched spots at the table so that Magnus sat next to Alec in front of the air conditioner.

“So, Magnus,” Maryse said, “what do you do for a living?”

“I’m the owner of a club called Pandemonium.”

Maryse beamed. “A businessman. Wonderful. What’s your club like?”

Magnus spent the rest of the dinner trying to subtly win Maryse over. Alec appreciated the effort, especially since Magnus hadn’t been given much time to prepare for this dinner.

The really shocking part was how well Maryse reacted to his charms. Not to say that Magnus wasn’t charming; of course he was. But Maryse didn’t usually _enjoy_ ‘charming.’ Maryse didn’t usually enjoy much.

“Maryse,” he said, “this wine you picked out is great. I have to know where you got it.”

“I’m so glad you like it! I found it at a little vineyard I went to last week…”

Seeing them get along so well, Alec started to loosen up himself. He joined in the conversation more. He didn’t even get too mortified when his mom started telling embarrassing stories from his childhood.

All of his nerves were gone. He felt happy Magnus was there with him. He wanted more nights like this one, more family dinners that didn’t make him want to tear his hair out.

“I’m glad you two are getting along so well,” he said.

“How could we not?” Maryse asked. “Magnus, you are an absolute delight.”

“Maryse, you are fantastic.”

“I’m glad you two are getting along,” Alec repeated, “because… Magnus is my soulmate.”

Across the table from him, Clary and Maia shared wide-eyed looks. Next to him, Magnus was beaming.

“Also, I’m gay,” Alec added, because a little extra clarity never hurt anyone.

There was a pause before Maryse said anything. It was probably just a second. To Alec, it felt like an eternity.

“I know,” she said.

Alec stared at her. He wasn’t the only one. Around the table, everyone sat with an open mouth and disbelieving eyes.

A minute passed before he found his voice. “What do you mean, _you know?”_

“Max told me,” Maryse said. “He heard you and Izzy talking about your soulmate, Magnus.”

Alec huffed, trying to wrap his head around what Maryse was telling him. “So, you knew the whole time? And you let me have this whole fake-dinner and introduce Clary to you as my soulmate?”

“I didn’t think you were going to introduce her as your soulmate,” Maryse said. “When you invited me over for dinner, I thought you were ready to introduce me to Magnus. Then I got here, and instead you introduced me to --” She gestured to Clary. “-- _this girl,_ and I didn’t know what to do.”

“Oh,” Alec said. “That’s a reasonable explanation, actually.”

Maryse huffed. “I can be reasonable sometimes, you know. I know I haven’t always been the most… nurturing mom. Izzy still won’t let me forget the first dinner I had with her and Simon.” She sighed. “But I’m trying to be better. I want to be better for you kids because your father…” She trailed off, like she was having a hard time saying what she needed to say. “Your father isn’t camping. We’re separated, and Max is living with him.”

Alec was shocked. “What happened, Mom? I thought you two were happy together. I mean, you’re soulmates.”

“No, we’re not,” Maryse said. “We let you kids believe we were, but we’re not.”

“But -- your timer’s up!” Alec said.

“I’ve met my soulmate,” she said, “but he’s not the person I married. Your father was a family friend, and he had a steady job. I thought I would be better off with him.” She ran a hand through her hair. “I disapproved of Simon because I thought Izzy was weak for choosing love over comfort. Now I know I was wrong.”

Alec sat back in his seat, processing all this new information. The one thing that stuck with him was Maryse’s calmness about this whole situation. She genuinely didn’t seem bothered by Magnus, at all.

“So… You’re not mad?”

“Of course not,” Maryse said. She reached across the table and laid a hand on Alec’s arm. “I love you for exactly who you are. The only reason I didn’t say anything earlier was because I didn’t want to put you in a position where you were forced to come out. I just wanted to provide a warm, accepting space, so that you felt you could be open with me.” Maryse looked hopeful. “Did I do a good job?”

Alec huffed a little laugh. “You did great, Mom.” He got up from the table and pulled his mom into a hug.

Soon, they finished dinner. Alec found that he wasn’t quite ready for his mom to leave yet.

He wasn’t the only one. “Mrs. Lightwood,” Clary said, “Alec and I planned to have a few more drinks after dinner. Would you like to stay? I could invite Izzy and Simon,” she offered.

Maryse smiled. “I would love to. As long as Alec doesn’t mind?”

“I don’t mind at all,” Alec said. “Honestly.”


End file.
